Chafee to establish advisory climate change council

Governor Chafee is set to announce the establishment of a council that will advise him on climate change issues.

Governor Chafee is set to announce the establishment of a council that will advise him on climate change issues.

At a news conference Friday at the West Warwick Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, Chafee will announce an executive order that creates the Rhode Island Executive Climate Change Council.

The governor will be joined at the 10 a.m. event by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a leading voice in Congress to address climate change, as well as state Coastal Resources Management Council executive director Grover Fugate, Save the Bay executive director Jonathan Stone and Terrence Gray, associate director at the state Department of Environmental Management.

The council will coordinate climate change efforts among state agencies.

“The goal is to ensure the reduction of emissions, and to prepare for the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal and shoreline changes, severe weather events, critical infrastructure vulnerability, and ecosystem, economic and health impacts,” a news release from the governor’s office says.